Magic
The Basics Magic often relies upon the user’s life force, represented in their fatigue. Should an individual wish to cast a spell, they often draw upon their own physical energy reserves in order to cast said spell. While the exact mechanics are unknown to the universe at large, a few aspects are fairly apparent, detailed below as the first lessons to a mage. Magic is powerful. Magic helps create the world that the characters live in. It helps drive technological advances and allows individuals to perform acts that would be beyond their own physical and mental abilities. It allows the creation of enchanted items that perform their desired function much more effectively than usual. Further, it allows those skilled in it’s use to manipulate the most primal elements of the world at large to create their desired effect. With enough power, a mage can lay waste to entire cities, force nations to bend knee, and even imbue life and intelligence to an otherwise inanimate object. Magic is addictive When you use magic, you draw upon your own life force or the life forces of those around you. Repeated and prolonged use can weaken your own ability to heal or recuperate without it. Worse yet, prolonged use can render someone who is cut off from mana to deteriorate and eventually die. Holy magic does not exist The gods taught us how to use magic, but don’t provide magic to us. You may pray if you so wish, but it’s unlikely to do anything but provide comfort or focus. A spell that heals someone may be perceived as beneficial, but it can be used to prolong torture. Also, healing a target poorly may extend their life, but never have the pain from the initial injury removed. However, because holy magic doesn’t exist… Dark magic does not exist The gods do not care for profaning the dead. There is no soul used to use a corpse - only the spell caster’s will. Daemons are the manifestations of an individual’s will and personality, being anything from virtues to vices. Protect or destroy, assist or inhibit, daemons do as the individual’s personality would dictate, but, like all magic, there is a price. While you are manifesting a facet of your own personality, it is but a facet. It is no more you than a blurred reflection is you, so it is unlikely that it will act precisely as you would. Additionally, due to the amount of willpower required to be a mage, convincing a daemon to do as you wish depends on the individual caster and the facet summoned. System Mana level: High Natural magery maxes at Magery 1. Those who worship specific gods or are from specific planets tend to practice specific spells from specific colleges. As such, insta-skill injections for spells from a specific school are only going to be available from each specific planet. Increasing magery beyond 1 requires cybernetics. Mercury: Water, Mind, Knowledge, Illusion Venus: Earth, Enchantment, Making and Breaking, Technology Luna: Healing, Light & Darkness, Protection & Warning, Body Control Mars: Fire, Movement, Gate, Food Jupiter: Weather, Plant, Meta, Air Saturn: Healing, Necromantic, Knowledge, Communication Uranus: Air, Sound, Movement, Body Control Neptune: Water, Making and Breaking, Sound, Light & Darkness Pluto: Knowledge, Mind, Movement, Technological Naming conventions While magic uses a major power source that we’re unaccustomed to hearing about, it’s unrealistic to assume that the other planets in the system haven’t rigorously tested it. By now, “magic” is less a magic as it is a definite science. Thus, the naming conventions of each individual school have changed. A common naming convention is to use the -mancy suffix to denote the actual use of a particular college and -ology to denote the study of said college. Thus, Necrology would be the study of magic involving death while Necromancy would be the use of said college. Someone who uses the Necromancy tree would likely possess the title of Necromancer. College: Study, Use, User (Notes) Air: Aerology, Aeramancy, Aeramancer. (Covers any gaseous matter) Animal: Ferology, Feramancy, Feramancer. (Covers any non-sentient beast) Body: Corporology, Corporamancy, Corporamancer. Communication & Empathy: Commerciology, Commermancy, Commermancer. Earth: Terrology, Terramancy, Terramancer. (Covers raw, unworked earth) Enchantment: Artemology, Artemancy, Artemancer. (Study includes the practical application of magic in crafts) Fire: Pyrology, Pyromancy, Pyromancer. (Study details the behavior of fire, as well as the color of fire created by non-standard materials) Food: Cibology, Cibemancy, Cibemancer. (Practitioners include famous chefs) Gate: Auctology, Auctomancy, Auctomancer. Healing: The exception to the rule. Often called simply “Medicine.” Illusion: Umbrology, Umbramancy, Umbramancer. Knowledge: Indicinology, Indicumancy, Indicumancer. Light: Lucology, Lucimancy, Lucimancer. Making/Breaking: Another exception. Simply called “Entropy.” Meta: Thaumatology, Thaumatugy, Thaumatuge. It's worth noting that someone who studies the "Meta" school of magic often studies magic as a general concept. Mind: Neurology, Neuromancy, Neuromancer Movement: Motumolgy, Motumancy, Motumancer. Necromantic: Necrology, Necromancy, Necromancer Plant: Herbology, Herbamancy, Herbamancer Protection/Warning: Fidology, Fidemancy, Fidemancer Sound: Sanology, Sanamancy, Sanamancer. Technology: Technology, Technomancy, Technomancer (Not a college unto itself, but an extension of other colleges into modern use, including alloys, metallurgy, radiation, creation of new elements, ect.) Water: Aquology, Aquamancy, Aquamancer, (Covers any and all liquids.) Weather: Tempesology, Tempemancy, Tempemancer Alternative Magic Thaumatologists theorize that Aspects use magic styles that are completely different than what an average mage can use thanks to the near-limitless flexibility within their aspect. Lilith, for instance, is one of two individuals capible of reversing death in an individual who's been dead for weeks. Symbolic Magic Typical with Aspects of Artifice and Invention, Symbolic Magic is particularly useful in craftsmanship, but is also used in the creation of cyborgs and artificially grown life. Further, individuals who have talents for specific colleges are theorized to have certain symbols engraved into their genetics. Known Symbols Tiwaz - Associations: Mind. Meaning: Rulership. Used by Loki Onn - Associations: Amplify, Magic. Meaning: Empowerment. Known to exist. User unknown. Ruis - Associations: Life. Meaning: Healing. Known to exist. User unknown. Idho - Associations: Destroy. Meaning: Spirit. Known user: Lilith Syntactic Magic Aspects will also use Syntax, that is, language, to modify their own magic, usually symbols already existent in their own system. Known Modifyers Control - Verb. Grants temporary control over their specified power. Life - Noun. Creates a base for another symbol. Deals specifically with an individual's association with their pattern and body. Death - Noun. Exact effect unknown. Theorized to deal with dead tissue and dispersed, if not itegrated, patterns, though the differentiation between death and spirit remains muddy. Fire - Noun and verb...? The current aspect, REDACTED, seems to use this particular word as both a base element and a qualifier. Furthermore, this particular word seems to refer to heat and chemical reactions rather than simply fire, further allowing REDACTED to control and use plasma based weaponry. It's theorized that OF ENTRY Category:Magic